What is elder abuse? That may seem like a question with a simple answer, and most people would say that elder abuse involves some sort of physical harm and/or violence. Physical abuse can certainly occur and it is one of the aspects of the problem but elder abuse can take many different forms.

• Sexual abuse: Actual sexual contact does not have to happen for sexual abuse to occur. The victim may be forced to undress, watch pornography, listen to sexually explicit or suggestive language, or be subjected to unwanted sexual situations.
• Neglect: This is perhaps the most common form of elder abuse. In these cases, relatives or caretakers ignore the elderly person and deliberately neglect to provide for the basic emotional, comfort, safety, health care, or nutritional needs of the victim.
• Emotional abuse: Emotional abuse involves behavior that causes psychological pain and trauma but doesn’t involve physical injury. This can include threats, ridicule, insults, embarrassment, intimidating or manipulative behavior, non-verbal threats, deliberately withholding attention, or forced isolation.

• Financial abuse: An elderly person may find that people close to them are exploiting them financially. The abuser may be stealing money or valuables, forging signatures, or improperly accessing personal financial records.

• Physical abuse: Physical contact and injuries. The elderly person might be struck, shoved, or restrained. A caregiver may also force an elderly person to take extra doses of his/her medication or take illicit drugs or alcohol. The elderly person may be deprived of medications or medical care, or chronic health problems may be ignored or neglected.

• Abandonment – Deserting an elderly person by someone who has the responsibility of providing for the physical care of that person.

The US National Academy of Sciences defines elder abuse as follows:

‘Intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm (whether or not harm is intended), to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who stands in a trusted relationship to the elder, or failure by a caregiver to satisfy the elder’s basic needs or to protect the elder from harm.”  This module will use the following as a definition of elder abuse.

Elder abuse can be defined as deliberately endangering the physical or emotional health of an elderly person.